Troupe(s): Ethiopian Serenaders, Dumbolton’s Serenaders, Soloist
Role: Bones Player, Clown, Manager
Info: Gilbert W. Pelham was among the most famous of the early blackface minstrels, and had a particularly successful career in Britain. He was a child performer in blackface with his brother Richard (one of the Virginia Minstrels), and toured with the Boston Minstrels and the American Ethiopian Serenaders in the mid-1840s, when he reportedly performed for U.S. President Tyler in Washington. He traveled to Britain late in 1845 with The Ethiopian Serenaders--a troupe that achieved enormous success with a full year's run at the St James Theatre, and in private concerts for the aristocracy (including Queen Victoria). He returned to the United States in 1847, but returned to England with a second version of the Serenaders in 1848, repeating his success with runs at Vauxhall Gardens and throughout England and Scotland. He appears to have remained in Britain, or at least returned to it repeatedly, for the rest of his career. He died in Liverpool in 1872.

Please see the 'Bibliographic Sources' link at right for a complete listing of materials (both primary and secondary) from which the above information was compiled.